This invention relates to a bearing for rotatably mounting a shaft and, more particularly, a bearing of the type frequently referred to as a center bearing or midship bearing utilized to support a vehicle drive shaft or propeller shaft from a member secured to the frame of a vehicle.
In conventional rear wheel drive vehicles a drive shaft extends at an inclination from the transmission to the differential and is connected by universal joints at its opposite ends to the transmission shaft and to the input pinion of the differential. Due to the greater length of larger vehicles such as trucks and buses, the propeller or drive shaft is provided in sections at least one of which extends rearwardly from the transmission, generally parallel to the frame of the vehicle, and is rotatably supported by means of a bearing fixed to a bracket or cross tube secured to the vehicle frame. That section is connected by means of a universal joint to an inclined section of the drive shaft which in turn is connected to the input pinion of a differential.